Malachai's Journal

vol. 4

After breakfast, I went to the stables and saddled Bucephalus. Gerard was nearby, playing with a very large Sha'um. I had seen him wrestling with it in a less friendly fashion during the battle the previous day ... I guess they made up. I said hello as I went past and headed down to Arden. Ingold, apparently, had gone off into Shadow in order to investigate something or other. He had left sealed orders up in the castle, to be opened in the event that he did not return. Lovely.

I was working on various staffing issues when I saw Logan and Ariel. I went over and said hello. I introduced myself to Ariel and thanked her for healing my horse. Logan chuckled, and Ariel hit him on the shoulder. They explained that they had been brought here by Zack, who had promised to bring them back to their home shadow. I tried his Trump, but couldn't get through. 

The previous day, Ingold had told me that he had promised Tazik a vacation in Shadow in exchange for the swords she had provided. Since they had been instrumental in turning the tide against Benedict's troops, I planned to provide her with the reward she had requested personally. I told Logan and Ariel that I was expecting to head out into Shadow soon, and if they wanted to come along, I'd try to get them home. They thanked me and I told them that I wasn't sure when I'd be leaving. As they had no other options, they agreed to wait.

I went back to the castle. A guardsman told me where Benjamin had been assigned a room. I went there and knocked, but there was no answer. I opened the door. Benjamin was unconscious, seriously wounded, and missing one eye. He had bandages in many places. Serena had told me nothing of any injuries. I went over and checked his pulse. It was weak, but steady. Then I noticed that he was healing before my eyes. I sat down, and over the course of 20 minutes I watched his eye grow back. I pulled off a bandage, and saw that, although the bandage was stained with blood, it covered clean skin. There were no scars, but the skin didn't look new, either. 

I shook him on the shoulder, and he woke up. He was quite happy to see me, although he didn't know where the injuries had come from. As I spoke with him, I came to realize that Benjamin was insane. He believed that Cassandra was absolutely, divinely perfect in all possible ways. He as sure that she had, through some mystical means, healed any injuries he had sustained. He was completely delusional and unable to recognize any possibility of imperfection in his love.  

Benjamin wanted to know where Cassandra was. I told him that I had last seen her through a Trump contact the day before. He asked me to bring her to him now. I told him that I had no Trump of her, nor any other way to reach her. He started to get upset, with a manic gleam in his eye. I told him I'd try to reach Corwin.

I took out his Trump and concentrated on it. Nothing. Then I tried Zack. I felt a strange feeling of slowness, as if time itself had gone to sleep. Then my arm hurt, and I wasn't holding the card anymore. I looked at Ben. He had gotten dressed. He told me that I had been staring at the card for nearly two hours. He had tried to knock my arm down with a chair, but the arm had been rock hard. Then he had snatched the card away. That had worked. I picked up the card from the floor and put it back in my pouch. I took out Julian's card, asked Benjamin to do the same if I turned to stone, and concentrated. There was no contact.

I told Benjamin that I had no way to get in touch with Cassandra. He believed faithfully that Cassandra could not come to harm and would come back soon. On the other hand, he insisted that he would need daily reports on progress toward finding her. There could, of course, be no higher priority. If I couldn't get him frequent doses of information, he would find it necessary to stay with me and never leave my side. I told him I'd do what I could, and made my exit. Then I found an officer of the guard and gave orders that if Benjamin became agitated, he was to be locked up. He was not to be harmed, however. I then went to pick up the orders that Ingold had left. I was given a package which contained a wand. When I picked it up, I felt a voice speak to me. It said, "Not yet." I put it away.

A guardsman told me that Zack had been discovered down in Arden. He was apparently frozen solid. I went to investigate. Zack was in fact standing motionless, looking at Conor's Trump. A man I did not recognize was touching his arm with a stick. He was also frozen. I found a rock and knocked the card out of Zack's hand with a careful throw. He snapped out of it, sucking on two fingers. Although I had tried to moderate the force of the throw, I had apparently broken two of his fingers. Perhaps Zack was more fragile than he appeared. 

The other person was Auricle. I greeted him, and we all discussed plans. I mentioned Logan and Ariel. Zack had apparently forgotten. We decided to go speak with Erik and arrange for him to be in charge for a while. We would then drop off Logan and Ariel, then go to Tulaine and offer Tazik an excursion.

As we were getting ready to leave, a small child crawled out of the woods. It seemed to belong to Auricle, who picked it up and put it in a pouch he created in his side. Shapeshifters. Ick.

We met up with Logan in and Ariel. Zack had forgotten his promise to bring them home, but now agreed to bring them along. Then Erik showed up, on a donkey, which was chasing a white horse. 

"Hello, Erik!" we shouted.

"What ho," he replied, stopping to talk.

We chatted for a while. It appeared that he was spending his time touring Arden and reading a book on courtesy by Julian. We told him that Julian was known for his expertise in a number of subjects, but that courtesy was not among them.

"I didn't seem to make much sense," he said.

I showed him Ingold's wand, which continued to resonate its "not yet," message. He was interested, and I handed it to him. There was a bright flash, and Erik flew back into a tree. Fortunately, Erik is (so far as I can tell) indestructible. He stood up, unhurt, and brushed dirt from his ruined clothes. I retrieved the wand.

I called Serena. She was talking with an ambassador. I asked her if she'ed like to go on a trip to distant lands. She said yes, put off the ambassador rather rudely, and stepped through the Trump. 

We gathered horses and set off through Shadow. After a couple of hours we stopped to pee near a convenient outhouse. When Serena didn't come out after ten minutes, I knocked on the door and called out to her. She didn't answer. I opened the door; she wasn't there. In a panic, I tried her Trump. She answered. She was in some other bathroom, this one quite lavishly appointed. She had no idea how she had gotten there. I pulled her through. 

We didn't want to spend the time to figure out what the bathroom kidnapping had been about, so we continued on. We stopped at a restaurant that Logan and Ariel seemed to know. At the door, greeting us, was a very polite white dragon. We said hello and met a number of people, all of whom were very friendly. Dinner was quite good and presented in vast quantity. After dinner, Serena and I went outside for a constitutional. When we got back, the restaurant was gone. I tried Zack's Trump, but it was, of course, blocked.

Lovely. With no better ideas, we camped out for the night. The next day, we continued on to Tulaine and met up with Tazik. I told her that we were here to pay up on our debt by providing her with a vacation. She nodded and began closing up her shop. About a half hour later, she was ready to go. Upon conversing with Tazik, we discovered that she knew nothing of Shadow or parallel worlds. She had never before left the desert in which she had been born.

We spent several days traveling with her in Shadow. We showed her the ocean. We showed her forest. We encountered an interesting dragon named Ravak, who took us home with him to an advanced multishadow, multiracial empire ruled by an intelligent monkey. I had an unfortunate run-in with an idiotic sorceror, whom I hurt quite badly. In the sorceror's lab, I encountered a strange and inscrutable fellow who wouldn't give me his name. Like the creature I met at Oberon's party, he told me that I didn't quite belong here and now. He couldn't or wouldn't explain. How useless.

Finally, we brought Tazik with us back to Amber. She and Serena went off to shop. I talked with Erik, who didn't seem to be getting the hang of managing the castle staff. In private conversation, Prospero confirmed that he was driving everyone crazy. 

Later, I was sitting with Erik on the castle wall, enjoying some bourbon along with a view of the sunset. I decided to try Merlin's Trump, since he hadn't been heard from in quite some time. It was blocked. We tried it together. The was a moment of discontinity, then I was standing there with the Trump at my feet and an arrow through my forearm. Erik was missing, but there was a guard standing there in his place. He promptly tried to remand himself into custody for assaulting me. I eventually got the story out of him. Apparently, Erik had burst into flame and disappeared. I had been frozen, staring at the card, and could not be roused. The guard had shot me through the forearm in an attempt to wake me. That had been unsuccessful, but knocking the card out of my hand had worked. I assured the guard that he had performed appropriately and was by no means under arrest. He seemed unconvinced.

I went and spoke with Prospero and made sure that he would not be punished for his actions. Prospero told me that I was the only member of the royal family remaining in Amber. Therefore, although I would have liked to go off in search of various missing friends and relatives, I found it necessary to stay. Thereafter, the castle staff became excessively deferential. I found one, named Rathor, who was smart enough to realize that I didn't want that, and distinguished himself by providing a buffer against it. I resolved to recruit him as an aide.

That evening, at dinner, the staff majordomo wanted me to sit on the throne, since I was said to be heir apparent. I refused. He insisted that the ambassadors would expect it and would become upset if there was no one clearly in charge. I refused regardless. Eventually, we compromised. I made a public statement that, for now, I would be in charge, although I was taking no official titles. That seemed acceptable to everyone. Then, after I sat down, Serena told me that there was a glowing crown floating above my head. It looked just like Oberon's crown. 

Bloody hell. I found that if I moved from the table, it disappeared. I had a different place set for me. The table shifted shape to make that place the head. I sat and ate dinner, enduring the whispered comments of the diners in my vicinity. Thereafter, I determined not to sit at that table.

Later, Serena and Tazik went off to shop in town. I avoided thinking about what Tazik might want to shop for. I headed toward my room, hoping for some time to think. I was intercepted by several staff who wanted me to deal with the donkey in the stable, which was eating horses, griffins, and grooms. I told them I'd get to it later and continued to my room. Rathor was there, arguing with other members of the castle staff. They wanted to put royal regalia in my room. Actually, they wanted me to move into the Royal suite, but I had made it clear earlier that I would not move. I confirmed with Rathor that they were not to add anything to my room without permission. The others slunk off. 

I got finally got into the room and took off my over tunic. Then I noticed the chest. It was a large wooded trunk in the center of the room. I had never seen it before.

Enough.

I shoved the trunk roughly out of the room. Unfortunately, it was wider than the doorway. The sides of the trunk broke apart as it entered the hallway. Little demonic creatures came boiling out of the broken chest. Cackling softly, they ran off through the castle. More and more came out. I tried to put the chest back together, but it was too broken. I looked inside. The demons were climbing out of a dark mirror-like thing at the bottom of the trunk. I tried to break the mirror with Galantine, but it was impervious. 

"Guards!" I shouted. About fifteen men showed up. At my prompt, they started sealing with chest with rope. Then I called Serena. She was in the garden. I asked after Tazik. She was indisposed, but Serena promised to call back. I helped the men with the chest. It seemed to work, for now. Serena called back, and they came through. I explained the situation, and asked Tazik if she would be willing to interrupt her vacation to assist in bottling these creatures up. Tazik agreed, picked up the chest, and asked where the armory was. I had a guard show her.

I took my leave of Serena (not without some pouting on her part) and went back to my room. First, I killed all of the little demons in the room. They stank. Then I made a series of Trump calls. Corwin felt dead, as did Oberon. Benedict and Flora felt too far away. Zack and Rhiannon were blocked.

Amazingly, Caine answered. He was on a ship, which he said was near Amber.

"Oberon is missing," I told him, "presumed dead, and this is the perfect time to fulfill your lifelong ambition to become regent."

He grinned. "I prefer to be the power behind the throne. Wouldn't the next throne sitter be you, as Corwin's sone?"

"Not if I can weasle out of it."

He smiled. "Care to be a puppet?"

"No, I don't think so. However, I would be glad of your advice. If you are as subtle as you are reputed to be, that could result in a puppet situation without my knowing it."

We smiled mirthlessly at each other. "No one is in Amber but me," I said, "and that makes me nervous, considering all that has been happened."

"Very well. I will head toward Amber after dropping off most of my men, since they are rather rowdy."

"Good. Thank you." I ended the contact.

Caine makes me very nervous.

Then I called Serena. She was in the armory, where Tazik was busy rebuilding the chest. I came through to her. I found that Tazik had sealed the door, to keep demons from escaping. I killed all of those who had escaped in the armory. Serena and I made up a pallet napped. Later, I got up and finished this journal entry. Tazik is involved with her work and doesn't respond to speech. I think I'll try sleeping some more.

* * *

The next morning, when I got out of the armory, I was told that Caine had returned and was currently off in the city. He requested that I contact him there. I had breakfast, tried various unsuccessful Trump calls, and (surprisingly) got Gerard. He was surprised to be speaking to me, as he was expecting Valeria. I caught him up on what was happening in Amber. He said that he was with his wife and child, in a Shadow with Oberon. They were researching a method for conferring imortality upon his wife. At my request, he agreed to let me know if they succeeded, as I had a similar relationship with a presumably mortal woman. He also agreed to mention to Oberon that I thought he should get in touch with me. Then I ended the contact.

I went into town to look for Caine. The first bar I looked in was full of dead people. There was a message written in blood: "Do not cross the Left Hand."

The next bar I checked was emmpty and smashed to the point where the building was ready to collapse. The inkeeper said that Caine was up on the roof. I climbed up there and found him asleep with a cask of beer.

I said hello and he woke up. He appeared chagrined that he had put himself in so vulnerable a position as to fall asleep and let someone sneak up on him. He offered me beer. I took a drink; it was swill.

"Why don't we go someplace else?" I asked.

"OK." He jumped off the roof.

I followed. "So," I said, "tell me about the Left Hand."

Caine explained that a long time ago, he and Corwin had infiltrated the Amer underworld. He was the Left Hand. Corwin was the Right Hand. Caine had thought everyone associated with their organizations was dead. I asked him if he might deal with it. He agreed, on the condition that I find someone to be the Right Hand. I said I'd work on it.

Caine went off, after giving a sack of cash to the inkeep's wife. I heard shouting. Following the sound, I discovered a riod in the marketplace. People were drinking, laughing, throwing food, and generally being roudy without too much damage. Tazik was in the center of everything, having a wonderful time.

I tried Serena's Trump. I got a quick flash of riotous crowd, then the contact ended. I spotted her in one corner of the marketplace, in a clot of people.

When I got to her, she was engaged in a melon throwing duel with a group of children. 

"That doesn't seem very ambassadorial," I shouted over the crowd.

She grinned and tossed a melon at my head. I dodged. "This isn't very regal, either," I said. 

"So?"

"You want me to act like a regent, and now you want me to engage in a food fight in the market?"

She pouted. "OK"

I reached down and pulled her onto the saddle, collecting a kiss as toll. Serena explained that the fight had started when someone accused Tazik of stealing. Since she appeared to be having a good time, we decided to leave her there and ride up to the castle. 

On the way, I received a Trump call from Benedict. 

"How are you?" I asked.

"Amused and concerned."

He wanted to know if  I had heard from Bleys, and I told him no. I told him that I had gotten Caine to come to Amber.

"Caine?" he said. "That was foolish. He might try to take the throne."

"I offered him the regency if he wanted it. He declined."

"Why would he do that?"

"He said that he preferred to be the power behind the throne."

"I suppose that makes sense. I suggest you be very careful around him, though."

"I assure you that I shall do so. So tell me; why are you amused and concerned?"

Benedict told me that Paulette had returned. Apparently she wasn't dead as had been rumored.

"Then she would be Queen, technically," I said.

"Yes. At least when Clarissa isn't around."

"Where is she now?"

"Here in Chaos with Random, who is crying. Meanwhile, the readheaded cabal is attempting to subvert political events here."

"Which are those ... Bleys and Mikail?"

"No. Bleys, Fiona, and Rhiannon. Mikail and Brand are not around. The readheads have been attacking two houses that Amber has had relations with ... Jesby and Kara."

"I know of Jesby via Kathryn," I said. "But what of this house Kara?"

"Zack is a member."

"He does get around, doesn't he?"

"Yes. He is a well-traveled fellow."

I gave Benedict a rundown on what I knew of various family members, and promised to try to get in touch with him if I learned anything sigificant about Bleys. He agreed to call if he learned anything that might be of concern or anything about Corwin or Cassandra. 

Then I made a stupid mistake. Forgetting that Gerard had asked me to be discrete, I told him that I had been in contact with Gerard, and that he was with Oberon. Benedict can be very persuasive. I also told him what I knew of other family members. He asked about Bleys; I knew nothing. I agreed to try to tell him anything I discovered about Bleys. He agreed to call me if he learned anything about Corwin or Merlin. Then we ended the contact.

Serena and I made plans to go out for dinner that evening.

I spent the afternoon with my advisors. It seemed that Flora had taken with her, along with most of the rest of the critical parts of government, the entire judiciary. We worked on a list of new appointees, mostly well-respected minor nobles and former ambassadors to the golden circle. I assigned several staff to develop a plan for improving harbor defenses with a couple of forts and a series of heavy chains that could be raised to prevent the ingress of ships. I also gave orders to restore the defenses for Arden. I made sure not to do anything that could be interpreted as taking the regency. I was just trying to make the government run smoothly again.

Later I chatted with Tazik. She offered to act as the court armorer for a time. I thanked her and accepted gladly (I had been planning to ask her about that very thing). She planed to set up a workshop further up the mountain, where it was drier. I asked her about whether she knew anyone who was good at jewelry. I told her that I was planning on asking Serena to marry me, and needed an appropriate ring. She suggested a distant relative who was an expert on gem magic. I thanked her and we made plans to go back to her home shadow to retrieve her tools and look up ther person she had recommeded.

That night, Serena and I headed out into Shadow together. We went back to the cliff-side restaurant that we had been to once before. Gomez and Morticia, once again, were there. Morticia was quite pregnant. We spoke with them and they told us that this was to be their second child. When last we'd seen them, not long before, they had been childless. Since the time ratio between there and Amber was nearly even, I was surprised. Gomez also told me that the investments he was managing for me were doing very well. Even stranger. I didn't challenge his assertions, but went along with them. Were were invited to a party at their house in a week and told them that we would try to make it. 

Dinner was excellent. Afteward, we went for a walk on the beach. I told Serena all of the reasons why I thought that perhaps she should not agree to marry me. She was worried only about the aging issue, but for my sake. Then I asked her to be my bride. She accepted. The remainder of the evening was also quite pleasant.

The next day, I received a call from Benedict. He told me that Chaos was filling up with millions...n o, trillions of demons. There were hordes of them everywhere. They had apparently been summoned by Ingold, somehow. Some large number of them were headed toward Amber, he said. Fortunately, they were weaker near the Pattern. Still, they might be a significant threat. He referred me to specific entries in his log that provided commentaries on relevant tactics. I noted them.

I mentioned to him that Julian had invaded Arden with troops from a shadow called Tarinal. "Isn't that your shadow?" I asked.

"Yes. I will have to investigate."

"Then I trust we will receive no further invasions from there without your consent."

"Indeed."

I thanked him for the warning and he ended the call. Later, Serena and I Trumped to Amber. She had business that day, so she said goodbye. I went into the castle and called another staff meeting. While waiting for my staff to arrive, I tried miscellaneous Trump. Most of them didn't work. I got through to Caine. I told him that there was a horde of demons on the way to Amber. He went off to prepare and I ended the contact. I met with my staff and we made what preparations and plans that we could.

That evening, I took a long bath and caught up on this journal. Good night.

* * *

In the middle of the night, a messenger knocked on my door to inform me that a message had been received from Chaos:

To whom it may concern: I may soon need sanctuary.

It was signed and sealed by Random. I responded with a message saying that I was currently the only member of the family in the castle, but that he was welcome to sanctuary here. Then I went back to bed.

That morning a person named Jacomo the Soothsayer tried to make his way past my guards. He insisted that he had been sent with an important message from his master. Impatiently, I sent him away, telling him to make an appointment.

Soon thereafter I heard from Zack, who was back in the castle with Auricle. I met with him and welcomed him back. I told him what had been happening recently. He told me that he and Auricle had found themselves in a place called the Omega Correctional Facility. From there, they had somehow found themselves in another continuum, with a different Amber. There, Benedict was king and Flora was queen. They had returned here via Tir Na Nog'th. The Pattern there had apparently sucked Auricle through it somehow. 

We further discussed current affairs. I shared my frustration with being stuck as the only responsible person in Amber. Zack agreed to be available to take care of things from time to time. I caught him up on recent events. He and Auricle agreed to look in on Benjamin and check on some magical effects they had detected in the practice room in the basement. I thanked them and headed upstairs.

I was told that the person Dworkin had made from marzipan was wandering the castle. He was apparently quite helpful, volunteering to clean most of the unused rooms. I decided to leave him alone for now.

Later, I got a Trump call from Zack. I noticed a strange echo in the contact; so did Zack. He was in some sort of lab. He told me that they had met Dworkin in the dungeon, who had brought them to some sort of central Pattern. The walked it, and it absorbed Auricle again and spit her out in the center. Then they walked the one in the castle. She walked first, and he got pulled through with her, to Auricle's home shadow. There was a Gwen statue there, he said. Since he hadn't been involved in the battles with various statues, I warned him about them.

I asked him about whether he could get me to Pearl. I wanted to find out whether Corwin was really dead. I was also worried about Cassandra, who had said she'd be in touch in a few days, quite a few days ago. He told me that his use of faerie gates had been unreliable lately. If he could get to Pearl, he would not be able to predict the location where the faerie gate would appear. Zack had also tried and failed to get in touch with Ingold. We agreed that Zack would muck about in Auricle's shadow for a couple of hourse, then get back in touch.

Later, messengers reported that a group of Chaosians had appeared at a drop point set up by Random in the city. I tried Trumping Random, but it was too far. I was told that one of them, dressed strangely and with a golden sword, wanted to see me urgently. That sounded like Martin and Werewindle. I gave orders that he was to be given an escort up to the castle. 

I went to my room to get caught up on this journal. As usual, things are happening quickly.

* * *

Later, I head a commotion ... the Clarissa's voice reverberating loudly through the castle. I couldn't make out words, but the tones were not too angry. I figured that it might be safe to approach, so I went off to try to find her. There were marzipan mice scurrying around. Suddenly, they turned and ran purposefully toward the family wing. I followed. I heard a banging sound as I approached some of the family appartments. As I rounded a corner, the mice coalesced into a blonde-haired, blue-eyed fellow who looked rather like a young Oberon. There was a red-headed woman weraring a black band on her arm sitting on the floor near Brand's room. Clarissa was beating her head against some sort of barrier barring entry into the room. The door had been blown off. The banging of Clarissa's head was like the ringing of a large bell.

The blonde-haired fellow asked if he could help. The redhead said that she wanted some things from the room. He walked, past Clarissa, into the room. At the redhead's direction, he gathered various items from the room: clothing, small art objects, a rug, and other knicknacks. He grew a few extra limbs to help him with this task. I noticed that he got skinner as he grew the arms; I supposed that he couldn't add mass, but rather move it around. Clarissa kept banging her head against the invisible barrier. When the blonde asked her why, she said that it helped her thing.

I went up and touched the barrier she was banging herself on. It was solid. 

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Yes?" said the redhead.

"Who are you?"

"Celeste." She went back to directing the gathering of stuff.

"Gathering remembrances of the dearly departed?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied, then went back to her business.

Clarissa paused in her banging. There was, of course, no mark on her head. I'm sure that similar percussion on my head would have brained me. She asked me how things had been in Amber since she'd been away.

"Busy," I said.

"Who are you?" asked the redhead.

"Malachai."

She nodded and returned to directing the looting of Brand's room.

I turned to the blonde. "Are you the marzipan person created by Dworkin?" I asked.

"Why, yes," he said. "Is that a problem?"

"No, of course not. Do you have a name?"

"Yes. I am Fero."

"Have you taken up residence in the castle?" I asked.

"Yes. In one of the spare rooms. Is that all right?"

"No problem," I said. "We have lots of extra space at the moment."

"It's much cleaner now."

"Good. Thank you."

"Does that mean your in charge here?" he asked.

"For lack of anyone else, I am currently keeping track of things here."

"Then you're the king," said Celeste.

I shuddered. "No. I am just in charge because there isn't anyone else around to take the job. Oberon has been gone for only a few weeks."

"Yes," said Clarissa. "He's heir apparent."

"I see," said Celeste.

"He is the eldest son of Oberon's oldest acknowledged child," continued Clarissa. "Since he is apparently dead, Malachai here is the heir."

"So you are the Crowin Prince," Celeste said.

I shuddered again, just a little. "Just Malachai."

"True, true," said Clarissa. "Oberon never went in for designating a Crown Prince. The others would have been jealous. He is just heir apparent."

"So Corwin is dead, so far as you know?" I asked.

"Yes, from what I've heard."

"Have you heard from my sister, Cassandra?" I asked.

"No," she said. "Now that you mention it, she was due to get in touch with me."

"I am rather concerned."

"I'm sure things will turn out."

I bowed.

"Celeste is one of my favorite grandchildren by my son Bleys."

"I see," I said. "Will you be staying or are you just taking a few sentimental items and moving on?"

"Have you heard from my father?" asked Celeste.

"Bleys has not been seen for some time. He was sent on an investigative mission by Oberon and I have not been able to reach him by Trump."

"Is his Trump dead?" she asked.

"No. The contact just slides away."

"Well," she said. "If he is gone I might stay for awhile."

"Not fond of your father?" I asked.

"No."

"Have you been to the castle before?"

"I grew up here," she said.

"In this version of the castle," I asked, "or some other?''

"This one as far as I know. Why?"

"We've had people from other versions of Amber showing up lately. We recently had three Oberons to deal with."

Clarissa chuckled. "Three Oberons. If you could bring them back, I'd be very interested in having three at once."

"I am devastated to report that such a feat is not within my power."

"Oh, well, they probably wouldn't get along."

"They did not, in fact, get along," I said. "They fought over who should rule the castle. Then Dworking showed up and sent two of them away."

"How is Dworkin, by the way?" Clarissa asked.

"Just fine, when last I saw him."

"And have you set a wedding date yet?"

"We have not yet set a date," I said stiffly.

"No date. And Flora has been spreading rumors throughout the Courts of Chaos."

"Flora is in the Courts?" Celeste asked.

"Yes." I said. "The last I heard she was having an affair with Rainbow, master of the Dancer's Guild."

"I'll have to look her up sometime."

About then a guard ran up. "Invasion!" he screamed. "Demons!" Then he ran off to inform others.

"Oops," said Clarissa. "I suppose that would be my doing. They are bound to this stone." She held up a fist-sized rock. "I suppose it's your problem now."

She tried to hand me the rock. I stepped away without touching it. "Since you brought these demons," I said, "I think it reasonable to ask you to assist in coping with them."

Clarissa frowned. "Well, I am rather busy at the moment. I suppose I could give you a hand."

"What are demons?" asked Fero.

"Nasty creatures from hell," I told him. "Which is a bad place."

"And they are messy," added Celeste.

"I guess we should stop them then," he said.

I turned back to Clarissa. "So tell me. How many of these demons are there?"

"Oh, thousands," she said. "That Ingold fellow bound all of the demonds near the abyss. Do you know Ingold?"

"Yes," I said. "He's supposed to be the Marshall here."

"Well, he bound them all to this rock, so they have been pulled here."

"Have you any idea what to do about them?" I asked.

"I suppose I could take the rock elsewhere. There are some things I've been putting off."

"That would be quite acceptable," I told her. "I regret that your visit couldn't have been longer. Please feel free to come back sometime soon, when there is no horde of demons following you around."

Clarissa turned to Celeste. "Do you wish to stay here, dear?"

"Is there anyone around?" she asked me.

"Not many, I'm afraid. Caine is here, and Martin is on his way."

"Caine? It would be interesting to see him again." Somehow it didn't sound like she meant him well.

"Please feel free to visit," I said.

"Well, I suppose I should be off." She hugged Celeste, said goodbye to the rest of us, and disappeared with the rock.

Celeste yawned. "So you're going to go deal with this war thing? How tiresome."

I smiled. "I'm afraid I must."

"I suppose I could help out," she said.

"Thanks so much. This way." 

I went off toward the castle wall. As I did so I Trumped Caine. He was drowning a sailor as I called. He agreed to come as soon as he could. I ended the contact and called Zack. He and Auricle were still involved in investigations. I pulled them both through.

There were many tens of thousands of demons attacking up the sea face of Kolvir. Most of the demons. Most of the demons were in agony, lying on the ground and writhing. Enough were up and moving toward the castle, however, to pose a significan threat. Auricle turned into a big ball and started bouncing on them. Fero turned into a large number of animated brooms and started sweeping them out to sea. Celeste cast spells to destroy the enemy siege engines. Her first attempts at burning them didn't work, as they weren't flamable. At my suggestion, she began to telekinetically throw them out to sea. 

Martin fought his way up to the castle, killing demons on the way. I set up a good defense, then went down to the top of the stairway and got into the fray. It was rather busy for awhile, but with our magical assistance and the advantage of terrain, we slaughtered all who came to us with very few casualties.

Toward the end of the battle, Martin and a companion appeared right behind me. I didn't kill them. He introduced his friend, Owain, to Celeste and me. About that time, almost all the demons disappeared, leaving behind about three thousand. I led the castle guard down the steps and into their disorganized ranks.

We killed them all. 

Just as surrounded the last desperate group of them, Caine's fleet arrived. He was very annoyed to have been summoned to no purpose. I appologized.

"If most of them hadn't disappeared, we would have needed you," I said. "I didn't know that would happen."

He harumphed and stalked off.

A swarm of mosquitoes arrived and coalesced into Fero. He asked me about Pattern. Apparently, Dworkin had told him to walk it, but had explained nothing else. I did my best to tell him what it was, what kind of power it granted, and how to walk it. Zack and Auricle showed up and told me about a virus sweeping through parts of Shadow. People who got the virus turned into Gwen statues and crumbled into dust. Other statues were re-forming. 

We all Trumped up to the castle. I cleaned up and went to the dining room for lunch. Owain and Martin were there, eating. Owain asked for quarters for fifteen others. I told him that I would arrange it. I asked about events in Chaos, and they told me that it was full of demons, packed shoulder to shoulder. Random was planning on leaving, because the demons made him nervous. Later, they went off to play some kind of music.

* * *

Zack goes to Faerie to find Titania.

Talk with Cas. Decide to go to the pattern party. Get call from Ser. She wants to know what to wear; will we announce. She will go talk to Flora, if available. Go thru to castle. Lazy brings *Cor. Meet Ilkandasian. Ilk makes scabbard for Grayswandir. Cas will bring Lazy/Cor to Cor's room, then to her room to change. Will meet at party. I go to room to change.

Go to party. Meet Ser. Am announced. In comes Cor. Go talk to him. He seems like Cor, says Ran brought him back from dead via Trump. Acts a little funny, but body language, etc., are perfect. Call Cas. She is surprised. Will call back. Calls. Sez that he answered Cor's Trump. Maybe Random did bring him back from the dead. She goes off.

Femo is in a Pattern tux. Celeste arrives. Flora arrives. Bleys and Fiona arrive?!?

Call Cas. She and Cor both have Grayswandir. That's impossible. Give crown to her to put someplace safe.

Brand comes in. Celeste tries not to break into tears. Seems wierd. Fiona and Bleys act wierd too. Asks who Celeste is. She bursts into tears and runs out of room.

Eric and Cassandra show up. People get snooty.

Kathryn shows up. Everyone claps. Cas approaches her angrily. Someone shoots me thru shoulder and bolt bounces off Cas, just as Caine enters. Turns out that majordomo disappeared at that instant. Discover invisibles. Discover dead Cass bodyguard.

Kath claims to own Cor's grayswandir; took it from Bleys in another universe. Femo confirms that gray does not have local pattern. Cel begins to heal me; I allow, Gray disappears. Cas threatens Kath; puts sword near throat. We blink (Ser, Caine, Cor, Cas, me) to hospital in Shadow. Orderly attacks, we hit back, blinks out. Dead Cass bodyguard.

We leave. Cor teleports us to border of Pearl. Orderly right there, stabs Cas in belly. Strike, hit something solid in middle. Hack pieces off of the solid bit. Others throw magic at it. It dies. Cel assists.

Get call from Zack. Titania is indisposed, weakened.

Call Ser. Is on roof. With two gargoyles. She's been learning knife from Gomez, who showed up with ?? a couple of days ago.

Get another call from Zack. Lazy jumps thru. Sits by Cas. Zack and cube come thru. Cor holding cat he describes as Snarsht. 

Go to Pearl. Cor merges with Cor, leaving Norton behind. Zack and Cel go back to Amber. Big discussion between Cas and Cor. Tutor asks me to tell bodyguard. I break news that her sisters were killed by assassin. Talk with Cas. I am no longer an approved bodyguard. OK. Cor wants to go to party. Cas objected, was overruled. Cas gets other bodyguards. We go to grassy knoll. Cor can't walk in shadow here. I lead. I begin showing Cas how to shift shadow. We go to botique where she can get some clothing for party (old clothes shredded). 

Go to party. Ingold there. Talk with two Floras about wedding plans. Go with Cor to Chaos for battle. Then everyone else shows up.

Cas and Ingold rescued. Rainbow shows up. He compliments me on how well the Erics are trained. "Thank you."

Wall of shapeshifted critters blasts upward. No one comes in. Cor and Ben don't think its a problem. Listen to their discussion of plans. They adapt to my understanding. I chat with Cas and Cel. Various ridiculous things happen: people appearing, disappearing, and changing from one shape to another. Gates open and close.

Teach Cas about Pattern. Cel and I agree that she shouldn't walk it yet if not physically mature. Cel became mature at about age 35. Discuss whether it would be a good idea for her to go spend time in fast shadow. 

Titania and Zack show up with a blonde-haired guy who knows Cas. He apparently knows Mer and is concerned about him. 

Norton sends some kind of effect toward the enemy. They scream and charge. Head toward the line.

Have lots of fun. Kill someone I recognize from the bad old days of captivity. Wahoo. I get through covered in ichor, but didn't get a scratch. 

Cor gets a good slash across the front of his chest. Martin gets wounded in the stomach and Trumps out. 

We win. All of the enemy dies (except for a few who might have got out). I went over to speak with Cassandra and Corwin. I go show Cas how to do field stitches by closing up Cor's would.

Ilk asks if we are ready to go to House Cara, and from there to finish off the remainder of House Helgram. "Tally ho."

Benjamin shows up and is real happy. Norton shifts into her. Ben notices and he faints. Cas turns and Norton quickly turns back. He puts some kind of device on Ben's head. Explains that this device is a control device he got from a slaver. Benjamin is currently insane and this will help to control him. Cas asks why he fainted. He says that he kind of saw a little more than he could handle.

M "Norton."

N "Yeah."

M "Don't mess with my sister."

Norton admits that he changed into Cas briefly. Cas tells him not to do that anymore. We discuss strategies for making him no insane anymore. Norton thinks his insanity can be made into a work of art.

M "That's not the idea."

Norton says that he is working on how to cure insanity. Back where he comes from they like insanity and encourage it. He needs to figure out how to work in the other direction.

* * *

In castle. Get call from Ben. "I need your help. Can you come through?"

"Yes ... one moment." Call out to Zack. "Benedict needs help. You're in charge of the castle."

"OK. What's ... "

Trump thru. Ben is with an army at the top of a ridge. It looks like Begma. They are large humans in green scale armor. They are engaged with a huge army of mutated humanoids in demonica armor. The army extends off into the horizon.

"I am holding them," he said, "but no more than that. They are coming from someplace in Shadow. I need to know where that place is."

"I'll need my horse. I will have to Trump to the castle, then Trump you."

"As you say. I will wait for your call."

The Trump spot is trapped and useless. I call Zack and he pulls me thru. I take off at a dead run, yelling behind me. "Benedict's troops are fighting an army in Begma. They're barely holding."

Go to stables. Buc and other horses are already saddled. Stable hands are working to get all of the animals prepped. I praise them, take Buc's reins, and Trump Ben. He pulls me thru. We discuss strategy briefly, then I head off. 

I parallel their line of advance, managing not to be spotted. He was mistaken: the enemy are being gated through by a line of mages. There are thousands of them, standing in a line about four feet apart. Attacking by myself would be useless.

I call Ben and don't get through. Crap. I call Corwin. He is lying in a hospital bed. I explain the situation. He will try Ben and call me back. I wait 20 min. He calls back. He's standing in front of a mongol horde. "I couldn't reach Benedict, but these fellows should be of some assistance."

"Thank you."

I go to a knoll where I can pull them thru without being observed. Cor comes thru, having given my trump to an associate. "They will accept your orders for six weeks, then you will have to renegotiate their contract."

"How are they at fighting mages?"

"They have some experience with that."

"Good." I noticed that he still wore his hospital gown under a huge fur coat. "How badly are you injured?"

"Rather. Apparently I took a severe blow to the chest and exerted myself badly. I must get back."

"Thanks again. Rest well."

He Trumped out. 

We attack, taking losses but eliminating all of the mages. The enemy displays good tactics, but no operational command or strategy. We lure them into a feigned flight and kill a bunch. Then do it again. And again. And again. They keep falling for it. We lose small numbers with each engagement, but kill many more. Scouts report that Ben has retreated to a mountain pass which he is holding effectively. No way to get close enough to send a message; not taking Trump calls. Keep killing clumps of them. 

Eventually, they are whittled down to 5 or 6 thousand. Leave them with troops surrounding.

Ride toward amber. Few people, all nervous. Talk to a couple; they report a horde (different kinds) on white horses having ridden thru. Head toward. Encounter briefly. Again. Again ... try to grab. People transparent. Horses white powder. Tingles later.

Go to Arden. Set up fine. Animals spooked. City empty ... inhabitants wary. Caine on steps, fighting line of bugs. Go into castle. Speak to embassy. Serena has not been seen by them. Ben in Rebma. Others eating dinner. 

Find Flora, Dierdre (in black sack dress), Gil, Osric, Suhuy ghost, Fero. Gil cut up. She had fight w/Cor. Declines to describe why. Ask Flora for help reaching Ser, but castle is Trump blocked.

Go to bed. Get up midmorning. Go have breakfast. Meet Osric. He is waiting for Corwin. I tell him that, as far as I know, he is unavailable. "Is this expected?" "It is always surprising when the expected happens."

Find, at breakfast, Ben, Cor, Flor, Flor, Theraat, and undead pig with silver arm. Report recent matters in Shadow. Ben took out demons last night. Cor is heading off to Pearl with Osric and asks me if I want to come along. I say that Ser is missing. Will deal with that as soon as they are done in Pearl. Ben agrees. OK.

Go off. I lead, as Cor is not entirely healed. Go thru Garnath. They are celebrating a festival of Saint Cassandra. Laugh. Go to grassy meadow. Two undead guards playing cards. Cor wants to leave them there. Go thru to sandy area by Pattern where Mer is floating midair. Osric suggests taking him to a place in Shadow where he can dispell whatever is imprisoning Mer. 

Cor has Trump contact with Cas. She says hi. 

Girl named Chen. Thinks I'm daddy, only wrong eyes. Others aren't daddy.

Go back thru barrier with Erin. She is saddened by undead sisters. Osric gates us off someplace. Warehouse. Big silver ring suspended in midair. Black center with ramp leading up to it. 

Os sez some people with talent can go thru; those without, don't. We decide to try, and Os will come back for anyone who doesn't make it. Cor doesn't, nor do I. Girl, Os, Mer, and Lazy go thru. Os comes back with Mer (awake) and girl. 

Mer is stretching. Asks how things have been. I say nothing. He almost believes me. Actually, Cor has a few things to tell you. Cor sez that Ob has declared all of us outlaws, except that he may not be Ob. Care to join?

OK.

Need to find Ser. Describe effect with Trump. Mer tries it. Starts to scribe symbols around it. When asked, sez that her Trump is partially disrupted. Could be dead, but probably not or there would be no connection to Trump. Could be someone has screwed up her mind, or her body. Starts working on re-establishing connection.

Chat with Cor. Doesn't know what's going on. The Flora who brought back Ger's arm was not Flora. She responded to Dara's Trump. She walked the Pattern and left. Might not be Ob.

I ask what's up with Gil and he. She refused to go protect Cas. He insisted. She tried to kill him and almost got killed herself. I ask how things are going with Cas. Not well. He insists that she have bodyguards to protect against assasins. She doesn't want any. He insists. 

We wait for Mer to finish.